Google - Pixelbook Pen - Midnight Blue

After my white 1st edition Pixelbook Pen cracked, this new revision was a must get. The redesign is much stronger at the joint. Also, the cool black/blue color matches the Pixel Slate perfect. Thanks Google & Best Buy.

With a Pixel Slate and the keyboard in-hand, last piece of this bundle is the Pixelbook Pen - which is an active-stylus, not one that you can use on phones or other tablets that don’t have the ability to support a Bamboo-style stylus. I got about 4 days of use before I was alerted to “low battery.” The pen uses AAAA (Quad-A) batteries, which I didn’t have any, so I had to order some. Since then, no more battery alerts … that single AAAA must have just been old. The pen doesn’t have a clip and there’s no place to connect it to on the tablet or keyboard. I find this quite an oversight, even if the pen was designed for the Pixelbook and not the Slate, there should still be a way to keep it attached, so it doesn’t get lost. I had to tear apart my backpack looking for the stylus, as I went to sit down and button up this review. The closest thing we get to pen storage, Is a small magnetic strip on the underside of the keyboard case that stops the pen from rolling. If you’re using it in keyboard mode, the loose fabric area above the menu buttons of the keyboard can hold the pen; just don’t try to close it up with the pen there - you’re reminded quickly that it doesn’t belong there. The pen does have Google Assistant features, whereas you can press the button on the pen and circle something on the screen. To me, it seems that the more popular and well-known search terms and images are what it matches the most quickly. For example, the icon of a Google docs document is not found when using the pen search feature. However, if I Circle the face of a well-known actress which finds that very quickly. This is a nice accessory for the Pixel Slate / Pixelbook, but beware that it's easily lost without any way to keep it attached to the device, especially when there's a case in play.

While I do not consider this accessory to be a “must have”, it certainly makes using the Pixel Slate a lot better. Simply put, the tip at the end of the Pixel Pen is far more precise than the tip of your finder. It is faster than using a mouse or touch pad on a keyboard. Most Practical Use: Signing documents or drawing/designing. These are the two main reasons someone would want this accessory. If you sign a lot of documents or do any type of illustration, photo editing, or design work, this makes things a lot easier. Even for the couple times a year you may sign a document, this is an extremely nice to have addition. Least Practical Uses: You can use the Pixel Pen to highlight or circle objects in a Chrome browser tab to get more information. This is activated using the only button on the device near the tip. This this has a “cool factor” it is not something I ever see myself doing. Most of the information on the website is already being explained so this added “get more information” isn’t that useful. It can however, using Google Lens technology, identify photographs and other pictures and tell you what they are if it can identify it. Simply as a pointing and navigation device for more precision. Performance: Using the Pixel Pen to write on the Slate feels almost as if you’re actually writing on the device. It feels extremely fluid and precise. The moment the tip hits the glass, it is picked up on and works instantly. My Pen was detected by my Slate instantly and didn’t require any special pairing to make it connect. Unfortunately, the Pen required a AAAA battery for power (No, that isn’t a type, it actually used AAAA batteries). This is included in the box which is nice, but the fact it cannot recharge is a bummer. These are also an obscure size and not easy to find in a store, though can be ordered online fairly easily. I do not know how long the batteries last, though I’ve seen various differences in length of time, but a couple months to perhaps a year shouldn’t be out of the question. The weight of the Pen is great and the size in both length and thickness is perfect. It is composed of metal and feels very premium. The Midnight Blue color is also spectacular. Would be nice if Google Thought of: A place to attach it… The keyboard for the Slate offers no place to store the Pen nor if the Pen magnetic and it cannot attach to the tablet. It is easy to separate the two. Would have been nice if Google considered how to keep all the pieces together. Rechargeable Batteries would have been nicer or a way to just plug in the pen and charge it, but given the likelihood of the battery lasting a while, it wouldn’t be a deal breaker. Overall this is a nice accessory that makes using the Pixel Slate more enjoyable. It maximizes the experience and should be considered by even the casual user.

After going without the Pixel pen for a few months, I finally decided it was time to try the pen out and see what it could do. It fits comfortably in your had and is lightweight. The pen feels very smooth across the screen whether you are writing, drawing or highlighting areas of the Pixelbook or Pixel Slate screens which is my favorite part of the pen. You can simply hold the button on the pen and highlight something you may want Google to search for you. I will say this is a welcome addition to the family although may not be necessary depending on what you are using your Pixel Chromebook for.

I like the Pixelbook Pen, but to be honest I really haven't found enough uses for it yet. I haven't had time to do a lot of drawing or diagramming with it, but I feel like that will be one of the killer apps for me once I do. It’s not that it's a weak link or anything, I just personally have not found enough use cases for it at the moment. Certain things work really well with the pen, for instance screen and screen segment capturing and annotation worked exactly as you'd imagine, first time and consistently afterwards. Other things, like integration with Google Assistant seemed to be a touch and go affair only working half the time for me. When it did work, it was very cool to simply highlight some text on the screen and have it offer search results. But honestly I think I would be more likely to simply use voice with Assistant instead. Handwriting worked better than I expected with most misinterpretations of my writing being negated by the optional choices being displayed above the keyboard; in every test except one, one of the choices displayed was the correct one and it was simple to tap it with the stylus to correct it. But there again, I feel like I'd be more likely to use either the keyboard or voice dictation. The stylus itself feels good in the hand and is comfortable to use. As a simple stylus, it works as well or better than any other stylus I've used with a tablet. I'd certainly recommend it, but I would ask first if the person had definitive use cases for it since it's not a cheap optional accessory. If you DO have use cases though, I can't imagine a better choice.

The Google Pen is ideal for those who enjoy drawing, editing photos, multi tasking, writing. It's fluid to the touch on the screen, accurate and easy to use. It enhances the productivity experience of the Google Pixel Slate or Pixelbook. It can be used as a laser pointer, which is great for programs like Google Slides. You can even activate Google Assistant from it which comes in handy. I recommend this pen to anyone that thinks they would utilize any of the above - or if your someone looking to get more out of your standard tablet/laptop experience, this gives you a different experience.

This little chubby pen works really well easy to pair I’m not a fan of having to use batteries but when you’re not using the pen make sure it’s off so you don’t drain the battery the tip is replaceable which is good and the pan does not have a magnet so it needs a place to be stored. The connectivity from the pin to the screen is instant very accurate.

It is a little big compared to a MS Surface pen but works just as good.